The heart of our organization is practitioners who have advised some of the World’s most respected organizations over the past 20 years.
FOUNDER
ALEX MARQUEZ
Alex founded Propellerfish in 2009 and has spent the past 16 years helping complex organizations unlock their potential around innovation in the US, Europe and Asia.
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Along the way, Alex has led projects in 25 countries for a mix of multinationals, governments, and social impact organizations. Those projects have resulted in a smart phone for the emerging middle class in China and India, a new line of confectionery for Mondelez in Europe, and an innovation partnership with Cisco which has delivered over $100 million in growth. Alex also built our partnership with the Grameen Foundation which helps design financial inclusion programs for bottom of the pyramid consumers in partnership with organizations like JP Morgan, Citi Foundation and Met Life.
After nearly 10 years in Asia, Alex is now based in our London office full-time..
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ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
TIM WOOD
Tim joined Propellerfish in 2016 and leads our project management function that keeps increasingly complex projects running smoothly.
Prior to Propellerfish, Tim spent 15 years managing global transformation projects and problem-solving initiatives in Financial and Telecommunication multinationals.
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In that time, he held roles such as Global Head of HR Process Transformation which gave him a keen sense for how to manage complex initiatives and stakeholders in large organizations.
Since joining Propellerfish, Tim has managed projects across 8 countries and for clients such as PepsiCo and Cisco Systems.
Global to the core, Tim has lived in the US, India and the UK. He is currently based in our London office.
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PARTNER, DESIGN STRATEGIST
JON FORTUNATI
Jon is a multifaceted consultant whose skills straddle design and strategy.
For over 10 years, Jon has helped global organizations unveil unexplored opportunities and develop innovative products and services across Asia, Europe and America.
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From organic snacks and drinks for one of the largest food corporation in China, to robotic lawn mowers for the Northern European market. During his career at Continuum and as an independent consultant, he had the chance to work with clients of the likes of P&G, PepsiCo, Carrefour, Samsung and Haier, among others.
Since joining Propellerfish, Jon has helped a food and drink multinational invent new snack and drink categories, he has helped Cisco Systems driving up sales by supporting their customers in the digital transformation journey, and worked on several projects for tech, fintech and FMCG companies.
Jon has lived in China, Italy and the UK and and he is now based in our London office.
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DIRECTOR
SALLY BURRELL
Sally spent 19 years working in advertising with agencies such as JWT and Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury.
Sally left advertising in 2004 and has since worked with clients to create solutions that lead to real change on the ground and stretches businesses into new areas of growth.
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Sally works with clients to build new ideas and to prepare their business and their people to deliver them. Sally’s recent clients include Royal Sun Alliance, Royal Mail, John Lewis, Transport for London (Crossrail), Lloyds of London, ColArt , Philips, Nandos, notonthehighstreet.com, Tesco Bank, Prudential, Gondola Group and Public Service Board of Wales.
Sally is a fluent Spanish speaker and has spent a large portion of her life in Spain and still has close ties there. Sally lives in London.
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STRATEGIST
COLIN SIU
Colin has worked on projects with Propellerfish since 2013 and has innovation and technology project exposure across 12 countries.
In his time with Propellerfish, he has helped invent a line of chocolates for Milka in Germany and China, helped design a WeWork competitor for Asia Pacific and developed a VR app about emerging markets for PepsiCo.
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Colin has previously spent time at an Accel and Goldman Sachs backed startup and as an entrepreneur in the Google Launchpad Accelerator.
He is a proud Canadian and has lived in Vancouver, Toronto, Singapore and Paris and is now based in London.
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STRATEGIST
A-YOUNG KIM
A-Young has six years of experience in management consulting, with a focus on organizational and behavioral change.
She has worked with governments, conglomerates and MNCs in Asia to shape their people strategy and leadership.
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At Aon Hewitt, she helped clients change the way they lead and engage their employees. At Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, she worked with the Malaysian government to innovate national strategies, rethink the way they educate and develop the nation’s talent, and rebrand their leadership.
A-Young first worked with Propellerfish after leaving the INSEAD PhD program in organizational behavior. With Propellerfish, she has worked on projects for major financial organizations and Audi.
A-Young has lived in the U.S., Korea, Bangladesh, France, Singapore and Malaysia. She’s worked in 14 countries, and is currently based in Singapore.
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STRATEGIST
RIO LEIPOLD
Rio is an innovation expert with a background in design thinking and aeronautical engineering.
He has been working for five years in the Berlin start-up scene as system architect in the field of e-mobility and for seven years as innovation consultant in the fields of Energy, Automotive, ICT and Government.
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Rio helped SAP design space concepts for their innovation center, worked for the Federal Ministry of the Interior Germany to create a platform for the new German identity card, ran a design thinking training program for Deutsche Telekom and created an identity management provider for the Bundesdruckerei.Since joining Propellerfish in 2016, Rio has worked on insight and innovation engagements for various financial services businesses, Cisco Systems and PepsiCo. Rio worked mostly in Europe and is currently based in Berlin.adership.
Since joining Propellerfish in 2016, Rio has worked on insight and innovation engagements for various financial services businesses, Cisco Systems and PepsiCo.
Rio worked mostly in Europe and is currently based in Berlin.
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STRATEGIST
RICHARD WATKINS
Richard spent 8 years in R&D at BP before 10 years consulting across innovation, strategy and culture change.
He created a beer for China’s oldest brewery, built a homeware brand for UK retail giant Argos, and recast the vision and values for Latin America’s biggest company.
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As the creator of the Let’s Go model, he is known for his expertise in collaboration.
Working as a Propellerfish associate since 2013, he co-designed FarmerLink (a resilience program for coconut farmers) with Grameen Foundation in the Philippines, supported Cisco on customer collaboration in Europe, and investigated the future of private banking in Singapore.
Based in South London but with a global mindset, Richard has worked in over 20 countries, lived in Asia twice, and is the creator of global collaborative arts projects like #GlobalMixup and The Airmail Project. Click here to learn more about his collaboration practice at Let’s Go!
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VIDEO EDITOR
DAPHNE GOMEZ-MENA
Passionate about the study of the human condition and drawn to a creative visual style, Daphne Gomez-Mena found her perfect match in the art of video editing.
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With over 17 years of experience in post production, her diverse portfolio of work includes independent documentaries, part scripted films, corporate projects, doc series work for networks such as VICE, A&E, Discovery, National Geographic, HGTV, and more.
She is accustomed to working on fast-paced projects where deadlines are a priority and is well equipped to handle multiple responsibilities.
Possessing a clear vision and a strong commitment to producing dynamic work, Daphne is a great asset to Propellerfish team when it comes to bringing insights and user stories to life through vivid and highly engaging videos.
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STRATEGIST
JESSICA WANG
Jessica is a bilingual innovation strategist with 10 years experience in consulting and agency roles.
In her 13 years of living in China and working across the APAC region, she has worked to translate consumer needs into growth strategies and new offerings for multinational corporations as well as local brands.
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During that time, Jessica has helped to innovate packaged foods and beverages for Kraft, Mondelez, Pepsi, and Wrigley’s, identify future category needs for Estee Lauder, and explore opportunities for Philips medical devices in hospital emergency care units. At Grey Advertising, she was responsible for managing GSK’s consumer healthcare category portfolio, including brand repositioning and new product development for Fenbid, Contac, and Zyrtec.
Since joining Propellerfish in 2012, Jessica continues her passion for consumer insights and product innovation, with recent focus on premiumizing brand offerings for China’s emerging middle class.
She now splits her time between Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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